A heat exchanger, for example used in the automobile industry, comprises fluid heat exchange and flow elements in which circulate fluids mutually exchanging heat. The heat exchange elements can, for example, comprise tubes or plates, fins disrupting the circulation of gas and/or fluid flow disrupters, or similar.
Such exchangers used in the automobile domain are known, notably in the field of supercharged heat engines.
In this case, the heat exchanger, also called supercharging air cooler (abbreviated RAS), makes it possible to cool the supercharging air from the engine by heat exchange with another fluid such as the outside air or a liquid such as the water from the engine cooling circuit, thus forming an exchanger of air/air or liquid/air type.
Traditionally, the air is received at an intake manifold, often referred to as such by those skilled in the art.
The manifold is fixed to the cylinder head of the combustion chamber, that is to say to the cylinder inlet. Depending on the engine speed, the air may be cooled, wholly or partly, or not cooled.
According to a known solution, the heat exchanger RAS is received in the manifold and makes it possible to cool the air which passes through it.
To this end, the manifold has an open face allowing for the introduction of the exchanger RAS into it. This opening is subsequently closed by a closing cover.
However, this embodiment can present sealing drawbacks, which can result in poor heat exchange performance levels.
In practice, a poor control of the seal between the bundle of the exchanger and the intake manifold can result in a leak between the bundle and the manifold, and thus lead to a significant drop in performance.
Moreover, the securing of the exchanger in the manifold may not be sufficiently effective.